Assessing the Likelihood of a Houston Rockets-Brooklyn Nets Trade

Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai gained attention earlier last week when discussing the franchise’s long-term prospects. Tsai said the franchise was at a crossroads and the team’s roster would be retooled this offseason to compete for the long term rather than win immediately. Tsai would like to take a “longer-term approach” to team building.

This shift in the Nets owner’s thinking, of course, has implications for the Rockets owning Brooklyn’s plans over the next few years after the blockbuster 2021 trade that sent superstar guard James Harden to Brooklyn. Brooklyn, at the time, was willing to mortgage its future in hopes of forming a Big 3 of superstars by adding Harden to the resident duo of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. The backbone of Brooklyn’s outgoing package was the Nets’ picks from 2022 to 2027.

Already, as a result of the trade, Houston received Tari Eason, selected with the 17th pick in the 2022 trade and now, the No. 3 pick in this year’s draft, thanks to the trade rights held in 2024. Brooklyn still has choices. in Houston in 2025 and 2027; Houston has the right to trade picks with the Nets in 2026.

The gamble seemed worth it at the time, but has put Brooklyn in a tough spot currently as it looks to recover from the post Big 3 era. (Harden was traded to Philadelphia and is now with the Clippers , Durant was traded to Phoenix and Irving was traded to Dallas). With Houston owning ownership of the Nets’ future draft picks, Brooklyn is left with a mid-tier roster not good enough to compete, but without the ability to tank games to properly launch a full rebuild. The team is stuck in an in-between situation, with no clear direction.

The Nets and Rockets were reportedly in talks at the last trade deadline about a deal that would have sent swingman Mikal Bridges to Houston for a combination of Brooklyn’s future picks. Ultimately, no agreement was reached. It was thought that shooting guard Jalen Green might have been included in those discussions.

What would it take for Houston to restore Brooklyn’s future? As the Rockets look to make a push for the play-in tournament this season, Bridges would remain a target. Brooklyn also owns the rights to the Suns’ future picks following the Durant trade last season. Would the Rockets give more importance to the Suns’ choices than to those of Brooklyn? The calculation on the part of Rockets executives might be that if Houston doesn’t trade its picks to Brooklyn, the Nets could use the Suns’ picks to improve their roster, thereby reducing the value of the picks held by Houston. One possible target could be Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell.

This will be a chess game to watch all season, from draft night to the deadline.